Manitoba mixed race artist explores identity at Smithers gallery
Published 4:54 pm Monday, July 21, 2025
The Smithers Art Gallery's newest exhibit showcases a painter and multi-media artist based in Treaty 2 Territory, Brandon, Manitoba.
Kevin Ei-Ichi deForest's artwork explores the notion of identity, making his Eurasian heritage visible to inspire discussions about cultural differences.
According to a press release from the gallery, Kevin identifies as an outsider in the Western painting tradition while being driven to make landscapes and family portraits primarily as a loving tribute to his underrepresented mixed-race identity.
His visual language ruptures and fragments images, allowing the viewer to enter the work to complete it. These visual glitches also point to a selective and deteriorating state of personal memory.
Growing up as a “mixed race” kid in the suburban Canadian prairies, he internalized racism toward his Japanese heritage. Living as an outsider in that respect has given him a critical lens to observe his world that informs his work.
He has exhibited internationally in North America, Europe and Japan, and has participated in residencies in Amsterdam, Holland; Kyoto, Japan; and Brooklyn, N.Y. He is currently an Associate Professor in the Ishkaabatens Waasa Gaa Inaabateg Department of Visual Art at Brandon University.
In a nod to Kevin’s lifelong interest in popular music the gallery hosted a pop-up Karaoke experience during the opening on July 15.
The exhibit will be on display until August 9.
